Build Background

• Involve students in a discussion about Australia. Create a KWL chart on the board and fill in the first column with things students know about Australia.

Preview the Book

Introduce the Strategy: Ask and answer questions

• Give students a copy of the book and have them preview the front and back covers and read the title. Have students discuss what they see on the covers and offer ideas as to what kind of book this is and what it might be about. Model how to ask questions as you preview the book.
• Direct students to the table of contents. Remind students that the table of contents provides an overview of what the book is about. Each chapter heading provides an idea of what they will read in the book. After reviewing the table of contents, model using it as a way to think of questions. Then ask the students to share questions they have about the book based on the covers and table of contents. Record both your own and the students' questions in the second column of the KWL chart.
• Think aloud: The first chapter tells about the geography of the country. I wonder if Australia has mountains or deserts, or maybe both. I'll write that question in the second column of the chart. I also want to know how big Australia is. I'll write that question on the chart, too.
• Have students preview the rest of the book, looking at photos, captions, maps, and sidebar text. Have them add any questions they have to the chart.

Introduce the Vocabulary

• Remind students of the strategies they can use to work out words they don't know. For example, they can use what they know about letter and sound correspondence to figure out the word. They can look for base words and prefixes and suffixes. They can use the context to work out meanings of unfamiliar words.
• Model how to apply word-attack strategies. Write the word hemisphere on the board. Model how students can use the base word and prefix to figure out the meaning of the unfamiliar word. Review the meaning of the prefix hemi (half) and the base word sphere (a round body). Tell students that putting the meanings of the words together will give them an idea of the unfamiliar word's meaning - half of the earth. Have students turn to page 6 to confirm the meaning of the word. Explain that writers sometimes put the meaning of an unfamiliar word in parentheses to help readers understand the text.
• Remind students that they should check whether words make sense by rereading the sentence.
• For additional teaching tips on word-attack strategies, click here.

Set the Purpose

• Have the students read the book to find the answers to the questions on the chart or any other questions they might have about Australia.

Student Reading

• Guide the reading: Have students read the Introduction and the first chapter. Ask them if they found the answer to the questions written on the KWL chart about Australia's landforms and size.
• Think aloud: The chapter title told me that I was going to read about Australia's geography. As I read the paragraph, I underlined the words, phrases, and sentences I thought were important. In doing so, I found the answers to both questions we wrote on the KWL. I found out that Australia has both mountains and deserts, and that it is the sixth-largest country in the world. I also learned that Australia has grasslands, and that it is an island.
• Ask students if they had other questions as they read the Introduction or first chapter. Write any questions on the KWL chart. Ask if any of the questions on the KWL chart have been answered. Put a check by any that have been.

    Tell the students to make a small question mark in their books beside any word they do not understand or cannot pronounce. These can be addressed in the discussion that follows.

Reflect on the Reading Strategies

• Ask students what words they marked in their books. Use this opportunity to model how they could read these words using word-attack strategies and context clues.
• Have students share any other questions they had while they were reading. Discuss how questioning the text when reading keeps them actively involved in the reading process.

Comprehension: Main idea and details

• Introduce and model: Explain that every writer has a main idea in mind for a book when he or she writes it. In addition, the writer has a main idea for each section or chapter of the book. The headings often provide clues as to what the main idea of each section or chapter is about.
• Check for understanding: Ask students what they think the main idea of the fifth chapter might be by looking at the table of contents.
• Give students the Main Idea and Details worksheet and have students fill it in with the main idea and important details for each chapter listed. Discuss their responses. As you discuss the main idea of each chapter, help students understand that the writer is providing facts about Australia while offering her opinion about some of them. Ask if they can identify the parts of the book that express the writer's opinions.
• Extend the discussion:

    Instruct students to use the inside cover of their book to write whether or not the writer convinced them that Australia is an interesting place, and to tell if they would like to learn more about the country and why. Have students share with the group.

Grammar, Mechanics, and Usage: Possessive pronouns/contractions

• Write the words your, you're, its, it's, who's and whose on the board. Review or explain that the words your and its are possessive pronouns. Each shows who or what owns something. Review or explain that the words you're, who's and it's are contractions for the words you are, who is, and it is. Tell students that these words are often confused. Explain that there are 2 ways to check which word should be used in a sentence. First, try to use the 2 words that make the contraction in the sentence. If the sentence makes sense, the contraction is correct. Second, check to see if the pronoun your, whose or its comes before the name of something or someone. If one does, the possessive pronoun is used.
• Direct students to the last paragraph on page 9. Ask students to read the third sentence and to tell which words are contractions and which are possessive pronouns. Have students identify the thing each possessive pronoun shows ownership of (head, front legs, neck).
• Have students read the first paragraph on the same page to find other possessive pronouns. Ask them to identify the things each shows ownership of (its ankle, its young).
• Give students the Possessives/Contractions worksheet and explain the example.

Vocabulary: Adjectives

• Explain that writers use adjectives to describe nouns or pronouns. Adjectives answer the questions what kind, which one, or how many, and help the reader form a mental picture of the writer's words. Adjectives can also be used as a way of expressing an opinion about the topic. Write the following sentence on the board: To learn more about the fascinating country called Australia, simply turn the page. Ask students to identify the adjective that answers the question what kind of country. Point out that the adjective also expresses the writer's opinion.
• Reinforce by directing students to the first paragraph on page 8 and asking them to find the adjective that describes Australia's animals. Ask students to explain what this tells them about the writer's opinion of the animals.
• Hand out the Adjectives worksheet and instruct students on how to complete it.

    Have the students underline adjectives in the book and circle the nouns or pronouns they describe.

Independent Reading

• Allow the students to read their books independently or with a partner. Partners can take turns reading parts of the book.

Home Connection

• Give the students their books to take home to read with parents, caregivers, siblings, or friends.

Writing Connection

• Have students select an Australian animal and write a paragraph using adjectives that will persuade others that it is the best or most unusual animal. Provide additional resources for students to research Australia's wildlife. Have the students illustrate their paragraphs and share with the group.

Science Connection

• Have groups of students use clay or paper mache to make a landform map of Australia, an Australian animal, or another topic of interest. Provide resources that will enable students to research the topic.

Monitor students to determine if they can:

• identify main idea and supporting details.
• identify and use adjectives.
• recognize and use appropriate possessive pronouns/contractions.

Comprehension Checks